Talk to me about real life outside London

[Herewegoagain84]

We’re considering the big move out. I’ve been a Londoner all my life and always considered I would stay, but I’ve got a third child cooking and I think it’s time. I know it sounds mad but I’d love to hear what your life outside London is like - especially with children at the weekend. We have everything so accessible to us here and always plenty to do. Can you talk me through how we might be spending our time and what activities you do / how weekends are spent? If you lived in London previously was it a good decision to move? Thanks!

@Bangolads

We moved from London to the Cotswolds. We all pretty much do the same things. Surprisingly art galleries, theatre, book talks, amazing restaurants and such like are actually closer as some of the larger villages have some pretty amazing facilities. I love the lack of traffic and no traffic lights as do the kids. Everyone is incredibly friendly and there’s a lot going on. I love being in the heart of nature too, obviously we got a dog! I miss London but won’t ever go back.

Oh of course.

Did anyone tell the OP that traffic lights are exclusive to London?

There are no traffic lights in the Cotswolds???
What kind of magical place is this?

East Midlands based. Keeping a one year old busy with museums, cafes, puppet shows at the city centre galleries, garden centres DS loves nature, garden sandbox and mud kitchen, soft play, cinema again in the arts quarter in town, park with the dogs, local farms, festive, light shows at the Deer Park, swimming.
There’s plenty to do especially if you’re able to drive.

Depends where you plan to move to.id imagine most people who live in a provincial city do similar things to people in London as a single older person i do.of course if you move to a very rural area you would have to drive everywhere to get any entertainment etc.and when kids become teenagers you will be s taxi service.Cities have public transport rural areas tend not to
..
I never understand why anyone who lives in London thinks moving to country a good idea.if you want to move out find a pleasant provinicial city to move to.i grew up in a village and lived there s while,way happier in a city.Villages sre often not what people think or paradises for kids either.County drug lines are all over UK often more prevelant in rural areas.

@Maireas

There are no traffic lights in the Cotswolds??? What kind of magical place is this?

Many many fewer. I moved to Worcs from a city at one point. The joy of not spending two hours a day goi g round roundabouts and negotiating traffic jams and lights was fantastic. The Cotswolds much the same.

Oh lord, true about the rural areas. You just have to listen to the weekly tales of woe from that bloke on Countryfile.
Awash with misery, it is.

We moved to Poole from Chiswick 16 years ago and it was the best move we ever made. Great schools and beaches, country park and big play areas right on our doorstep. We were still close enough to visit family in London but also right on the border of Devon and Cornwall.

I never realised that, @OneSwallow.
I thought a lot of Cotswolds places had plenty of tourists, so surely there must be a bit of traffic with the additional cars? Surely they need lights?

Tripe and onions for dinner again tonight.

@TenoringBehind

Tripe and onions for dinner again tonight.

Wouldn't you rather have jellied eels?

I live in a village with about 25 houses.

My children made friends at school, beavers, karate etc.

Everywhere we go is an outing, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing. 20 mile round trip for the supermarket, swimming, cinema etc.

We can see 40 miles in 2 directions from the house with only one house in the distance in one direction!

There is no public transport to speak of. We do every activity on offer at the village hall - even bingo! All the children locally go. You can’t be choosy.

The only drawback is with SEND education. Our county is shit, failing for years. My son has had to travel up to 60 miles a day, just to go to primary school.

Well my northern (!!) weekend plan was/is today visit a farm, then we went to a local park. Then tomorrow soft play and then the zoo for a few hours as we have an annual pass.

Maireas
There are no traffic lights in the Cotswolds???
What kind of magical place is this?
Many many fewer.
I moved to Worcs from a city at one point. The joy of not spending two hours a day goi g round roundabouts and negotiating traffic jams and lights was fantastic. The Cotswolds much the same.

Eh?

That’ll be Worcester, the city with APPALLING traffic jams every day? Worcester with the M5 going through it and dozens of roundabouts and traffic lights??

@CoffeeCakeChill

Horse riding lessons Meals out 15min train ride to nearest city for shopping museums meals Family gathering/parties Swimming Soft play Parks (5min walk) Drive through Costa Dance classes

Im baffled why this would be different from london?

I live just outside Manchester/peak district area

It's the drive-thru Costa thought that depresses me.

I'm from Peak District, lived in London 20 years and when I go back to visit i love the countryside and familiarity of local pubs. It's the thought of using Costa as an activity in its own right which makes me feel sad.

I was born and raised in London and I loved it there, however the area I grew up in has changed so much that when my eldest reached high school age, I took the plunge and my two children and I moved out. Never ever looked back. It was the best decision I could have made for my little family and we have no regrets at all.
Wednesday is the only day of the week we are all home for the evening by 4 o'clock. I've always said they can't have a regular activity on a Sunday because I want at least one day a week where we actually spend quality time together.

Perfect strangers will engage with you in conversation instead of trying to avoid eye contact. Depending where you move you will be called ‘love’ ‘duck’ ‘duckie’ ‘chuck’ including DH who may also be called ‘mate’ or ‘pal’ Don’t be offended its friendly.

Hi OP, I was born and lived in London until we moved 10 years ago to a tiny Kent village. I am 50 and have 3 DC's. My youngest was new born when we moved and it was the best decision we made.
We have lots to do on our door step and the schools are great.
The only thing is when we first moved I felt lonely because it was very different from my old life and my older DC's went to a tiny village school where everyone knew each other so I definitely felt an outsider and really missed my friends/family. As time as gone on we have settled and love living in the country. We have lots of nice walks on our doorstep and have a dog which has been amazing for me. Good luck if you decide to move as there is a life outside London and will be a good one.

I grew up in Lisbon a big city Portugal’s capital and as much as it had benefits as always something to do , just like in london also was very expensive qnd restrictive in other ways .
I moved from Warwickshire to Aberdeenshire 2 years ago , my oldest was 17 and my youngest then was 3 , I knew I wanted better quality if life than being stuck on the m6 and m1 to work and school .
I love it here , quality of life is much better , I picked this area as it was rural and close to the beach ,mountain and had really good school and health services reviews .
I spend the weekends doing activities with the kids just as you probably do , I would imagine in the spring and summer we do a lot more outdoor ones ? Moving away from a big city is something you need to do with a different mindset . If you enjoy 100 takeaway deliveries as a choice , if you don’t drive or dont like driving then maybe it’s nit fir you but if you want a different pace of life then by all means move . For me I’m so so glad I did , as a kid I had to use the tube and a bus to get to school , over here it’s a mile down the road , my kids class is 12 and I can count on most people if I need help despite being new here , the kids have accessories so much outdoors , they love nature , the beaches , the mountain , the streams and forests . And that is something I could never get in a big city . Yes I might need to pick up my own take away and drive 20 minutes to a supermarket but for us it was 100% the right decision

@Hen2018

Maireas There are no traffic lights in the Cotswolds??? What kind of magical place is this? Many many fewer. I moved to Worcs from a city at one point. The joy of not spending two hours a day goi g round roundabouts and negotiating traffic jams and lights was fantastic. The Cotswolds much the same.

Eh?

That’ll be Worcester, the city with APPALLING traffic jams every day? Worcester with the M5 going through it and dozens of roundabouts and traffic lights??

Yes I agree! We didn’t live in Worcester though. A village about eight miles away.

We moved last year up north from the outskirts of London and it's so much better. We have all the same things on our doorstep (museums, theatres, art gallery, leisure facilities, shops, restaurants etc) but without the lengthy London travel to get there and the expense. Everything is either within walking distance, or a ten min bus ride or 15 or so minutes in the car . So it's very easy to drop in to a gallery or museum with children for half an hour or so before going to a park rather than spending ages travelling to them, then feeling like you have to spend ages there to justify the travel. I'm mostly WFH still but can walk to work now instead of having a horrible London commute.

I miss some of the friends we left behind but I don't miss our life down there at all.

Also no one said NO lights, just not lights every five minutes , roundabouts that’s just go on and on and traffic jams.

I actually was lectured by a Londoner who works for the same company on how wonderful London is and the parks are fab and was there much greenery in Wales??!!!??. Jesus!!

Fluffmum I really hope you responded "yes there's greenery in Wales but we can't go there because of the dragons"

I grew up in a village, left for Uni in a major city at 18 and swore I’d never go back, moved around a few different places but all cities, then moved to a small town/large village (it’s a regular debate in the FB group) when my kids were 5 &7 ish, am very glad I did as it feels so much safer now they’re teens and wanting to go out all the time with mates. Weekends are filled with sports, same most evenings, and I can reach several cities in 60-90 mins so we’re often elsewhere either due to playing in sports leagues or just to do stuff, we’re a few miles off the M6 so not exactly cut off from civilisation

Today we went to ballet class, to the library and to a local independent restaurant for lunch. Tomorrow is swimming, seeing family and riding bikes. Fairly typical weekend. I’m in the grim north, you wouldn’t like it here.